Where are the best jobs for expats in LOS?

[samak]

I also wonder whether, for someone like me, who can speak, read and write some basic Thai, it would even be wise to include that on a CV. I'd fear that it would be might be seen as a negative - a suspicious "sex tourist risk" rather than the usual positive it would be with other countries.

if you have never worked in Thailand it will trigger some questions why you have those language skills!

so better learn chinese!

 

[..]

The head of the Thai Revenue Department has noticed this and commented on it several months ago. Unlike most of those in a position of power here, this guy struck me as very smart and shrewed.

 

Forget about the work permit rules (incidentally, the penalty for a work permit violations went from three months to five years - fodder for another post), the smart approach for Thailand would be to aggresively pursue the tax angle. That is almost exactly what the head of Thailand's Revenue Department said. Let's see if anything comes of it.

I'm not sure just what tax angle you are referring to. Changing the law? As of now, living in LoS and working outside of it, and not paying Thai taxes is completely legal (as it is everywhere except the USA and Estonia). Many offshore oil guys do this, maintain a home in LoS that is.

 

It would be silly to try to stop this as the economy gets far more money from these guys when they are off than they would if they tried to tax them the few days while they're in-country -- tho' I am at a loss as to how they could tax and what they would tax if these guys have no income while they are in-country. Have you been with a dude who just came in off a platform, and watched him spend/piss away US$1,000s a day for a week? Happens all the time.

 

But TiT, so anything's possible. Cambodia and/or Malaysia must be rubbing their hands together in glee at the prospect. For if I were one of those type of guys, I'd certainly be headed there.

 

Regards,

SD

[khun_khon_neua]

I can say that getting a handle on the rampant transfer pricing that goes on in Thailand is high on the Revenue Dept agenda, and has been for a couple of years now.

 

Malaysia has the same problem and is taking similar actions, as is China and India. Don't know about Cambodia or Vietnam, but suspect they are still in the dark ages as far as accounting is concerned.

[samak]

sorry, but what has transfer pricing to do with personal income tax?

[..]

Ya, I don't get that KKN. Isn't xfer pricing an accounting term used to describe the sale of goods/services within a company?

 

Regards,

SD

[khun_khon_neua]

sorry, but what has transfer pricing to do with personal income tax?

 

A lot, it is the mechanism used to pay the offshore salaries.

[Gadfly]

I'm not sure just what tax angle you are referring to. Changing the law? As of now, living in LoS and working outside of it, and not paying Thai taxes is completely legal

 

Not exactly correct. If you are resident here more than 183 days in any year, you are a tax resident, and obliged to pay income tax.

 

The Revenue Department is also aware that the nature of work has changed and that someone might attend meetings in KL, Singapore and Vietnam but work on-line and send emails from his home in Bangkok. When the head of the Revenue Department spoke at a recent AMCHAM breakfast, this was the exact example he used. This is work in Thailand, and even if you are paid outside of Thailand, as far as the Revenue Department is concerned you should be paying Thai income tax on your salary. And the Revenue Department has made it clear that they are targetting Farangs who do this.

 

I am not commenting on whether this is or is not good tax policy, but it is and has been the Revenue Department's policy. And I do know three Farangs who have lived here for years but "work outside of Thailand" who got caught in the last six months. One lost his condo (he lives in my building) and the other left (more like fled) Thailand and cannot return.

[Gadfly]

People always say that but wouldn't it seem odd to get a position and then be seen plotting or hinting that it'd be good if you were somehow in Thailand? Rather than other places?

 

True, it's best if you have been working at a place for years, it has operations in Thailand, and those operations need your skill sets in Thailand. If you are hired locally, the package will almost always not be nearly as good as the ex-pat package, unless you already have an ex-pat package, and are simply switching position. It's a catch 22 and makes matters difficult, but I think it is a fair and accurate description of what happens here in terms of hiring.

 

The other alternative is to set up your own business here. The authorities don't make it easy for foreigners to operate or own businesses here (an issues that has been discussed many times here), but foreigners do succeed if they can fill a demand. In a perverse sort of way, Thailand's restrictive laws actually create this demand. Let me explain how.

 

The restrictive laws limit competition, and this, in turn, reduces quality and innovation.

When new products or services are introduced into Thailand, it is generally by foreigners. This is not a coincidence.

 

If you are a Thai operating in a restricted sector with little or no competition, why spend time and money on some risky new product or service that may or may not catch on? It doesnâ??t make sense.

 

But foreigners don't have the luxury of this protection (some might add "racket"). They canâ??t live off of the fat of laws that protect them from competition; they cannot engage in rent seeking behavior. To enter the Thai market, they have to provide something new and innovative. And the restrictive laws - the Foreign Business Act, which they actually wanted to make more restrictive, is a great example of this - substantially increase the transaction costs and risks of entering this market.

 

It's bad for the Thai economy and your average Thai, but not the elites who dominate business. But they are willing to sacrifice the welfare of their fellows Thai to ensure their own wealth and limit foreign competition. And in a perverse sort of way, this does create opportunities â?? albeit risky ones - for foreigners in Thailand.

[bibblies]

But won't the Thais copy them as soon as these foreigners have taken the risk and be seen to be successful? And thus erode their advantage?

 

I suppose, as a foreigner, you could try to choose an area that Thais would find difficult to duplicate to the same standard to counteract this. Businesses where trustworthiness and honest customer service are paramount?

 

From meagre personal experience, the guys who've set up the 24 hour Mexican food places around Soi 12 have got something. And ThaiHotelDiscounts has a trustworthy reliable personal touch that I don't always see from the locals. But lawyers and accountancy would seem to be another obvious one.

 

How did they catch these people "working" in Thailand by sending emails btw? Did they have teams spying on these people's Internet use? Surely they must have done!

 

I used to love reading economic commentary by Norman McRae (not sure if he's still alive). A long time ago he theorised that intelligent states would soon compete for the best taxpayers and residents because it would be so easy to relocate otherwise.

[cavanami]

errrr, the Thais never copy things, that's why there is only one phone shop in MBK...... :grin: